This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application for CONTROL METHOD OF A MICROWAVE OVEN earlier filed in the Korean Industrial property Office on the 20th of January 1999, and there duly assigned Serial No. 1656/1999 by that Office.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven and more particularly to a microwave oven with an apparatus for detecting a life time of components and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a microwave oven includes various components installed therein, and the respective components have life time of predetermined length. Accordingly, when the predetermined length of life time elapses, the microwave oven goes out of order.
When the microwave oven is out of order, a user asks a manufacturer for a repair as an after-sales service, and the manufacturer have the microwave oven repaired by replacing the expired component with a new one.
Meanwhile, the components of the microwave oven usually have different length of life time, respectively. Also, the life time of the components of the microwave oven is usually determined by either total operating time or frequency of use.
Accordingly, if the microwave oven is out of order due to expired component, one cannot expect when the microwave oven will be out of order, since the time will differ one from another Even the microwave ovens of the same kind go out of order in different time, since the expiration time usually depends on any one of the frequency of use and using time by a customer.
Accordingly, whenever the life time of the component expires, the customer cannot use the microwave oven and thus has to bear unexpected inconvenience. For the manufacturer, the manufacturer also has to bear the inconveniences of having to visit the customer to have the microwave oven repaired or to ask the customer to bring the microwave oven to the manufacturer.
Meanwhile, it would be helpful for the development of the microwave oven, if the manufacturer is informed about the preferences of the customers in time. However, there is no way for the manufacturer to check how frequently the microwave oven is used by a certain group of customers for a certain period, or which function of the microwave oven is most frequently used by the customer, or the like, until the repairmen directly checks the microwave oven, the manufacturer cannot reflect the data in the development of the microwave oven.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave oven with an apparatus for detecting a life time of components.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a microwave oven enabling a remote check on a life time of components of the microwave oven.
The above object is accomplished by a microwave oven in accordance with the present invention, including a power supply for supplying a power, a key manipulating portion for inputting a time for cooking foodstuff placed in a cooking chamber of the microwave oven, a high frequency generating portion for generating a high frequency microwave for cooking the foodstuff, a door for opening and closing the cooking chamber, a door switch for detecting opening and closing of the door, a life time detecting portion having a high frequency generation detecting portion and a door opening/closing detecting portion, the high frequency generation detecting portion connected to the high frequency generating portion for detecting a driving time of high frequency generating components of the high frequency generating portion, the door opening/closing detecting portion connected to the door switch for detecting opening and closing of the door, a microcomputer connected to the high frequency generation detecting portion and the door open/closing detecting portion for counting and accumulating the driving time and/or a frequency of door opening and closing from the life time detecting portion, a memory for storing the accumulated driving time and the frequency of door opening and closing, and a display portion for displaying the cooking time, the accumulated driving time and/or the frequency of door opening and closing.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the high frequency generation detecting portion includes a photo-coupler connected to the high frequency generating portion for inputting a high frequency generation signal to the microcomputer when the high frequency generating components are driven, while inputting a high frequency generation stop signal to the microcomputer when the high frequency generating components are stopped.
When inputted with the high frequency generation signal through the photo-coupler, the microcomputer operates an internal clock to synchronize the memory, counts the driving time of the high frequency generating components, and accumulates the driving time in a predetermined time unit.
The door opening/closing detecting portion includes a transistor, a base of which being connected to one end of the door, and a resistor, one end of which being connected to a collector of the transistor and to the microcomputer, and the other end of which being applied with a predetermined voltage. The door opening/closing detecting portion inputs a door opening signal to the microcomputer when the door switch is open, while inputting a door closing signal to the microcomputer when the door switch is closed.
The microcomputer increases the frequency of door opening and closing by 1 and accumulates the same when being inputted with the door opening signal and then the door closing signal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the power supply includes a secondary power supply portion for supplying the power to the microcomputer when AC power from the power supply is cut-off. The secondary power supply portion includes a secondary battery for being charged when the AC power is supplied, while being discharged when the AC power is cut-off.
Another object of the present invention is accomplished by a microwave oven in accordance with the present invention, including a power supply portion for supplying the power, a key manipulating portion for inputting a time for cooking foodstuff placed in a cooking chamber of the microwave oven, a high frequency generating portion for generating a high frequency microwave for cooking the foodstuff, a door for opening and closing the cooking chamber, a door switch for detecting opening and closing of the door, a life time detecting portion having a high frequency generation detecting portion and a door opening/closing detecting portion, the high frequency generation detecting portion connected to the high frequency generating portion for detecting a driving time of high frequency generating components of the high frequency generating portion, the door opening/closing detecting portion connected to the door switch for detecting opening and closing of the door, a microcomputer for counting and accumulating the driving time and/or a frequency of door opening and closing from the life time detecting portion, a memo, for storing the accumulated driving time and the frequency of door opening and closing, a display portion for displaying the cooking time, the accumulated driving time and/or the frequency of door opening and closing, and an external communicating portion connected to the microcomputer and an external device for enabling a communication between the microcomputer and the external device. The microcomputer receives a command inputted from the external device through the key manipulating portion or through the external communicating portion, and display or deletes the accumulated driving time and/or the frequency of door opening and closing stored in/from the memory in accordance with the input command.
In the microwave oven in accordance with the present invention, regardless of the presence of abnormality in the high frequency generating components or the door, since the repairmen can check the accumulated driving time and frequency of door opening and closing while the component upon request of the customer is repaired, the life time of the component can be checked and thus the component can be replaced in due course. Accordingly, requests from the customers is reduced, and the customer does not have to bear the inconveniences of having to wait when need to use the microwave oven.
Also, since communication with a service center via the Internal through the external communicating portion is enabled, the manufacturer can check life time of the components of the microwave oven in advance and could deal with a possible problem well before the customer finds a problem and requests a repairing service. Accordingly, the quality of repairing service is improved, and the reliability about the product and the credibility to the manufacturer also increase.
Further, since the manufacturer can reflect collected data in the product development, more improvement can be expected.